And Then There Was One

Patrick Kane, Jonathan Toews, and Ryan Kesler dragged the dead, drenched body of the Anaheim captain, Ryan Getzlaf out of his water peril. They had found him in a secret room, to the other side of the staircase, opposite the sitting area with the grandfather clock.

Inside the room, there was cylindrical bucket that had been flooded with water, where the poor, helpless Anaheim Duck had fallen into. It was like something that a mad scientist would have in their evil laboratory. The top of the tube was attached to the ceiling, where a hole was….the chute that had come from the trapdoor up above.

“Hurry! We need to get him some air!” Jonathan shrieked.

They laid him down on the floor. He wasn’t breathing and his face was extremely pale in color. He looked like a ghost. Ryan Kesler felt for a pulse and shook his head.

“He’s dead. We were too late!”

They all paused in place, too horrified.

“What are we going to do now?” Jonathan grabbed Patrick holding him close. The blonde haired man gave his classic upset look, as they stared at the Duck.

“The night is coming, we need to get to our rooms and just stay put.”

“Right!”

“Let’s go, then! We can worry about the bodies tomorrow. And we three need to stick together!”

They walked into the main foyer, but halted at the stairs.

“But one of us is the killer?” Patrick piped up. “And it’s not me!”

“It’s not me neither!” Jonathan shook his head, rapidly back and forth.

“Nor me!” Ryan Kesler chimed in.

“Well one of us is! So we’ll have to weed him out!”

“I don’t think you’ll be able to, Kaner….if we haven’t solved it so far, how can we now?”

“Wait, what do you mean?”

“I mean, Tazer and Kaner, that you’ll never be able to figure it out!”

“What?” Jonathan’s eyed widened in horror and he squeezed his teammate closer to him.

Suddenly the lights went out, as darkness flooded the house. Jonathan felt himself being ripped away from Patrick.

“Kesler’s the killer!!!!” Patrick howled, as he was dragged and shoved into the chair, where he had been sat in earlier.

In the darkness, Ryan tied Patrick down to the chair, as the panicked man thrashed about. He managed to overpower the blonde man, strapping him down. Patrick jerked against the restraints, desperately trying to get free.

“TAZER, HELP!! TAZER!!”

Ryan Kesler rounded the Blackhawk, brushing his fingers along his face, and through his freshly cut hair. “Precious Lil Peekaboo, Kaner, Patrick Kane!”

“So hitting me over the boards wasn’t enough for you was it? Now you have to go and kill me?” Patrick hissed back, grunting in distress, as he jerked and jerked at the ropes. He could hear Jonathan trying to figure out where he was and frustrated growls coming from Patrick’s right side, near the staircase.

“You’re going to scream, Lil Peekaboo, but it will be for a new and different reason!” The ex-Canuck whipped a cloth out and twisted it up, before wrapping it around Patrick’s head.

Patrick’s screams became a low humming sound behind his gag, as it was tied into place. He tossed his head around, trying to get it out, but it was stuck, securely behind his teeth, in his mouth and there wasn’t much he could do.

Suddenly there was a thunderous umph! sound, as Jonathan leapt forward in a brief swatch of light that hit the area. He tackled Ryan to the ground and they rolled around fighting.

“You son of a bitch Kesler! Let Patrick go!”

“Now, I can’t do that Johnny. You see he did something to me that is unforgivable!!”

Jonathan pinned Ryan to the ground, with a loud smacking noise. In the background, Patrick’s muffled cries sounded like an angry bee trapped in a jar.

“You gagged Kaner?!” Jonathan spat, at another flash of light.

Ryan Kesler cackled, which sent chills up Jonathan’s spine. He froze in place, lowering his guard. Ryan shoved him to the side. Now the villain had the upper hand. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his chain. He dangled it over Jonathan’s face. The Blackhawk captain couldn’t help but look at it and as it began to swing back and forth, he started to feel light-headed.

“Mazmm!” Patrick screamed, jerking against the ropes holding him down.

He wondered what the Duck had planned for the two Blackhawks, as his grand finale of the killings. But he didn’t have to wait long to find out.

“You’re going to take this knife that I have here and plunge it into your precious blonde friend!” the hockey player snarled, swapping the chain out for the murder weapon.

Another flash of light from outside lit up the scene, as Ryan Kesler passed Jonathan Toews a sickening looking knife. The blade glistened from the rays of light. The villainous Duck scrambled to his feet and flipped on a switch, knowing exactly where it was.

This had been planned out!

Patrick blinked at the flame light, that danced around the room, casting the eerie shadows on the wall. He stared ahead of him, seeing his captain gripping the handle of a large weapon. It wasn’t a knife; it was a dagger. And it looked sharp and painful.

He imagined the blade cutting into his skin, puncturing his heart. He stared in horror at his friend, who looked the weapon over and then flashed a dark look at Patrick. His eyes narrowed to slits and he stalked forward, raising the blade up at a psychopathic angle.

The blonde haired Blackhawk tried to plead with his friend. He didn’t really want to do this. He used his blue eyes to beg, but the captain wasn’t shaken from his mission. He was lost, under the control and spell of Ryan Kesler.

Patrick whimpered, snapping his head to the side, to turn away. He caught sight of the evil Duck with his arms folded, leaning against the grandfather clock. He was smirking, enjoying the show going on before him.

Jonathan halted over Patrick and lifted the dagger-knife. The blade illuminated, before it plunged downward. The Blackhawk winger howled into the cloth, squeezing his eyes closed tight. As the tip cut deep into his skin, puncturing his chest, he felt the agony flood over him.

Warm crimson drained from his body, staining the chair underneath him, as Jonathan Toews stabbed him over and over. After the third stab, he draw back, winding up for the kill strike.

In the process, the cloth had fallen around Patrick’s neck. The blonde struggled to breath and take in the air. He could see all of the blood on him. He coughed over and over, hoarsely.

Jonathan remained in his ready position.

“Kill him, now!” Ryan Kesler ordered.

The Blackhawk put all of his strength into the fourth stab, driving the dagger down at Patrick’s exposed heart. The target.

“Johnny, no!!!! Please!!!!”

But it was too late, the blade sank deep into it’s place. The captain gazed into Patrick’s blue eyes, as they widened at the contact. Patrick screamed nothing but air, as he felt his entire body shutting down at once. His eyes shut and he fell limp.

Ryan clapped, snickering and snapped his fingers. “Good work, Blackhawk!”

Jonathan blinked, staggering backward. He collapsed on the floor, petrified. He was shaking. He had managed to yank the dagger out of his friend and he held it by the handle in his hand. He realized what had happened, as he saw the large gash on his friend’s chest at his heart. A soft gasp and yelp escaped his lips.

“Kaner! NO!! Kaner!!” He lunged forward and hugged his best friend, tossing the bloody dagger to the side. He wrapped his arms around the dead body of the blonde goal scorer. Tears flooded from his brown eyes.

He shakingly got to his feet and snapped the ropes off of Patrick Kane, releasing him. He sobbed Patrick’s name over and over again, as he pulled him down on the floor. He laid the body out and cradled Patrick’s head in his lap.

“Peekaboo, speak to me! Peekaboo!!” He dropped his head down and embraced his friend, dripping his tears onto the blonde man’s lifeless lips, as he bent over his head.

Ryan straightened up from his place and he walked over and stood before the heart-broken Blackhawk and his dead teammate. He squatted down and snatched the dagger up. “He had to die, Johnny and so do you. You can’t live with the fact that you killed your friend, right?”

Jonathan’s head shook back and forth. He combed his fingers through his friends curly locks and lifted his head up slowly.

“You must kill yourself, Tazer. It is the only way to free yourself and make up for the horrible murder you just committed!”

“You’re right, Kes…..” the leader of Chicago spoke, distantly.

Ryan held the weapon out, in his hands toward the man. Jonathan snatched it up by the handle and, without a thought or hesitation, he drove it into his own heart, killing himself instantly.

A single tear escaped his eyes, as he fell forward. He bled out, leaving Ryan Kesler alone in the foyer.